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Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake With a Gingersnap Crust

Sometimes in spring or summer, we wish that it was fall, just so we could make this pumpkin cheesecake! The crust is so gingery and snappy and the filling is so good, you can eat it on its own. Of course, you can serve this at any holiday gathering with pride. It is especially handy because you create it in advance, giving you time to be social and explain to your friends and family why you don't need cheese in cheesecake.

For Your Smarts: At some point in your life, you may cut into a piece of ginger and see a blue-greenish ring of color inside! Let us congratulate you, you just scored a Hawaiian variety of ginger called (you guessed it) blue-ringed ginger! The flavor and texture are extraordinary. Use it just like you would use any other variety.

For Your Parts: About 99 percent of pumpkins in the United States are used for Halloween jack-o-lanterns, but that's not all they're good for! These winter squashes have been used to treat bronchial asthma, as they help dispel all sorts of nasty things from your lungs and throat.

Preparation

For the Crust

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place cookies, almonds, ginger, oil, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla extract and sea salt in a food processor and pulse until uniform, about 20 to 25 times. Mixture should be a crumbly, even consistency that pulls away from the walls of food processor.

Grease a springform pan. Use damp hands to firmly press mixture into pan to form crust. Be sure to evenly distribute mixture and use thumbs to press crust into corners of pan. Bake for 7 minutes, to help crust stick together.

Pour filling into baked crust and gently tap mixture on counter to release any trapped bubbles. Bake for about 40 minutes or until mixture is slightly browned on top and feels firm when pan is slightly shaken.

Remove from oven and allow cheesecake to cool on counter for at least 20 minutes, then refrigerate for 4 hours to overnight before serving, to firm up.

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AUTHOR & RECIPE DETAILS

Spork Foods is a Los Angeles-based gourmet vegan food company owned and operated by sisters Jenny Engel and Heather Goldberg. They offer live cooking classes at Spork Foods in West Hollywood, online vegan cooking classes at www.sporkonline.com, one-on-one in-home healthy pantry makeovers, and recipe development/trainings for chefs, food companies and colleges. Their cookbook, Spork-Fed, is currently on the shelves, with a foreword by fellow fans and sisters, Emily and Zooey Deschanel.

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I made this recipe for thanksgiving and it was delicious but the filling was really runny. It was probably something I did wrong though. It was not only my first vegan cheesecake but the first cheesecake I've ever made.